A Path to understanding and dialogue

Condemnation and criticism are not the Path to consensus, for we know that these unconscious reactions do not liberate, they do not clarify, they oppress. Such projections in the realm of personal beliefs do not help, they only hinder discussion, social discourse, co-operation and any eventual collaboration.

This thing is when we react to the thoughts, words or actions of others, they are through in their words and or actions controlling us, jointly you create a conflict, but at the end of the day nothing is resolved as no outcome will come of this conflict, except the hardening of attitudes on both sides. People will not change their beliefs until they want to change or have a learning experience that places them on a new path, that will begin the process, organically, so to speak – this can only be achieved through quiet and reasoned discourse … criticism does nothing to create respectful discourse.

What gets lost here are the stakes, the majority of citizens of a country are involved in a conflict other citizens of the same country … as are the division and seeds of destruction are sown.

I have spoken about this before in my previous post called Social Media – exacerbates conflict and divisiveness here http://bit.ly/2Ny49Ni. Please pay particular attention to the following stages of story verification …. this is important I feel .. if you have any questions of concerns about the veracity of information you are receiving via the internet from news and more particularly Social Media …. ask yourself the following questions ..

1. Who is writing the stories? – is the source credible .. though that is not always a guarantee of veracity to know if it is true, fake or misinformation, designed to misinform and create or increase divisiveness.

It is hard these days to know what news services are credible … those sources from my youth such as the UK Broadcasters, the BBC for instance are now suspect … all one can do is to seek confirmation from a number of sources.

2. Who benefits from these stories? – does a political party or aspect of society benefit from say misinformation contained in the story .. please evaluate the story impartially, not through the primary filter of your personal political beliefs and convictions.

3. Who / What is missing from these stories? The other side, more information, a different perspective on the situation.

4. Verify anything that can be verified in the story, don’t share it or believe it merely because it agrees with your general beliefs or with your confirmation bias.

However in these days of Facebook, which is in my view the most destructive social platform available – where we are asked to like, share or move on .. so we respond in our busyness without truly considering the post, we share because it conforms with our beliefs, our confirmation bias and so an uninformed post gains traction … in hindsight possibly we might wonder what is true and what is fake.

However, the problems that the less-privileged workers talk about are real, are concerning, and are seemingly without resolution. These people sense their living standard declining, instead of seeking understanding and resolution through critical analysis, debate, and social change look (unconsciously) for something more immediate someone to blame, a fantasy is created: it is somehow someone else’s fault, so let’s blame, a minority or a religion or the other side of the political divide. It’s easy and simple and just plain wrong.

At the same time, it affirms in their minds the true lack of worth of the opposition, they are demeaned, dehumanised all based on an uninformed or incorrect post.

On the other side of the ideological belief divide, there are those who seek greater social and economic equality and equity and the protection of what has already been gained. Again we have a unconscious reaction instead of critically analysing an issue (s). We would understand it far better if dialogue was entered into with those on the other side (both sides are guilty of this). They both fall into their own emotional trap because they don’t understand the whole implication of the arguement, and so they will unconsciously demonize their opposition, as in Australia where there is a very noticeable split between the sides of the ideological debate.

They will portray each other in disparaging, demeaning even de-humanising terms, as evil or even snowflakes – this demeans and nullifies the seriousness of the problem in question … this makes them each jointly responsible for every possible scenario, the woes and failings of Government because of “them” … when of course the majority of what they fear may be uninformed emotional rhetoric.

What motivates all these words …. for me I think it is fear. Why – because of ego! – where the people concerned go to the nth degree to demean, criticise, blame … the home territory of the ego – all so they can feel right and of course others are wrong.

 

Martha C Nussbaum said it so well, “When people are afraid of one another and of an unknown future, fear easily gives rise to scapegoating, to fantasies of payback, and to poisonous envy of the fortunate (whether those victorious in the election or those dominant socially and economically). We all remember FDR’s statement that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. We recently heard departing President Obama say, Democracy can buckle when we give in to fear. Roosevelt was wrong if we take his words literally: although we had reason to fear fear, we certainly had many other things to fear in his time, such as Nazism, hunger, and social conflict. Fear of those evils was rational, and to that extent we should not fear our fear, though we should always examine it. But Obama’s more precise and modest statement is surely right: giving way to fear, which means drifting with its currents, refusing skeptical examination, is surely dangerous. We need to think hard about fear and where fear is leading us. After taking a deep breath we all need to understand ourselves as well as we can, using that moment of detachment to figure out where fear and related emotions come from and where they are leading us.”

The below is from Alan Watts in the Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

“The startling truth is that our best efforts for civil rights, international peace, population control, conservation of natural resources, sustainable energy, and assistance to the starving of the earth—urgent as they are—will destroy rather than help if made in the [current] spirit. For, as things stand, we have nothing to give. If our own riches and our own way of life are not enjoyed here, they will not be enjoyed anywhere else. Certainly, they will supply the immediate jolt of energy and hope that methedrine (methamphetamine), and similar drugs, give in extreme fatigue.
But peace can be made only by those who are peaceful, and love can be shown only by those who love. No work of love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart, just as no valid plans can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

In any foreseeable future, there are going to be thousands and thousands of people who detest and abominate Negroes, communists, Russians, Chinese, Jews, Catholics, (add Muslims) beatniks, homosexuals, and “dope-fiends and …. .” These hatreds are not going to be healed, but only inflamed, by insulting those who feel them, and the abusive labels with which we plaster them—squares, fascists, rightists, know-nothings—may well become the proud badges and symbols around which they will rally and consolidate themselves. Nor will it do to confront the opposition in public with polite and nonviolent sit-ins and demonstrations, while boosting our collective ego by insulting them in private. If we want justice for minorities and cooled wars with our natural enemies, whether human or non-human, we must first come to terms with the minority and the enemy in ourselves and in our own hearts, for the rascal is there as much as anywhere in the “external” world—-especially when you realize that the world outside your skin is as much yourself as the world inside. For want of this awareness, no one can be more belligerent than a pacifist on the rampage, or more militantly nationalistic than an anti-imperialist.

The idea of white privilege is absolutely reprehensible. The idea that you can target an ethnic group with a collective crime, regardless of the specific innocence or guilt of the constituent elements of that group – there is absolutely nothing that’s more racist than that.”

― Alan Wilson Watts, The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

At some point in the future when Politicians, the media and others with a vested interest in divisiveness have nothing to gain, they will no longer fan the flames of division, then and only then we will be on the path to consensus and hopefully peace and a creative constructive future.

What does the Evolution of the Consciousness mean?

… this is the way (for me) to illustrate what happens as we evolve.

Imagine you are in a Movie theatre …. or watching a concert or a sports competition in a stadium.

When we begin, we might sit in the front row, surrounded by and excited by the noise, the immediacy of the event. The light from the screen or event draws us inwards, we lose ourselves in it. Our focus is absolute – on experiencing the entertainment (or other distraction) …. Perhaps another example of this particular experience would be, when we focus only on achievement, or in the case of Entertainment, smartphones, some extreme sports, Play-stations and other game boxes, do by their very nature force us to stay present totally engrossed in the experience – in doing so they bring us a dopamine burst – our reward, our self-gratification..

During the movie (or event), we do not think about ourselves at all, unless we are not engrossed in the spectacle, then our thoughts may be of a non-present nature.

As we evolve, we move little by little we move to the rear of the Theatre, and as the distance lengthens between where we are and the screen (life), it becomes progressively distant, we observe an ever widening perspective of the image of life and our place within it, we see it not as a single event, but the big-picture, including the events that led to it, the very patterns of life …. We realise that in many ways we can be our own enemy for when we focus on a fear or an expectation and over think, this will often leads to suffering …. Remember what we focus, we give energy to and so this thought, this experience (good or bad) grows in our lives.

Meditation – that which we do in the morning, is practice, at some point in this practice, we are able to carry that state with us throughout the day and in living our life.

If we are able (which is happening in some schools) to teach mindful meditation to children as young as 8, will over time, over the generations, I feel will change the nature of humanity, and will lead to a self respect and therefore respecting others, for me it is on the path to peace, love and understanding.

When in mindfulness we stay present in the moment, not reliving the past or investing in our expectations of the future – this does not mean we don’t responsibly plan for the future, it just means we stay present and don’t invest in and therefore do not live in the future by building and living in castles we build in the air, instead of creating our foundations for the futures in the present moment.

Eventually, if it is on the path of the individual, we evolve further and come via little steps to a detached Mindless-Mindful state where unless we have a task to do that needs our mind, the mind is at rest, and empty of thoughts. This place is a also an incredible place of calm, when needed a state of intense focus. Hence when an event happens that requires our mind we can give it our absolute focus and attention.

A mind that is under observation from the higher self will go quiet on its own and achieve a passive state of pure observation – where we observe its actions without participating in them.

Social Media – platforms that exacerbate Conflict and divisiveness

This is a very cut down post from one of my other blogs …. although the headline sounds awful (which it is) one must say that the circus was already there …. with social media we have just offerred the platform where divisivenss and conflict is perpetuated … so it flourishes and grows.

My own experience on Social Media, I have found it to follow Carl Jung famous quote “Thinking is difficult, so that’s why most people judge” – when someones response to a post is a jarring condemnation or criticsm this comes from their own perspective, their own beliefs or dogma .. they are not verifying the trigger (the post) they are reacting to the trigger without establishing if it is true to start with.

In the other blogs I have gone into the reason people react rather than reflect before they respond … here and here

 

Let start with the trigger for a social media post, a headline, a comment or some content that we see that has appeared on a social media or main media platform – many take the words literally, instead of verifying … the writer (commenter) responds with what he feels is (their) truth … without any reticence about the rights he has even to comment or any due diligence on the trigger statement itself.

This is important I feel .. if you have any questions of concerns about the veracity of information you are receiving via the internet and particularily Social Media …. ask yourself the following questions ..

1. Who is writing the stories? – is the source credible .. though that is not always a guarantee of veracity to know if it is true or misinformation, designed to misinform and create divisiveness.

2. Who benefits from these stories? – does a political party or aspect of society benefit from say misinformation contined in the story .. please evaluate the story impartially, not through the primary filter of your political beliefs.

3. Who is missing from these stories? The other side, a different perspective on the situation.

4. Verify anything that can be verified in the story, don’t share it or believe it merely because it agrees with your general beliefs or with your confirmation bias.

The whole concept of conspiracies (real or not) also feeds into our fears and powerlessness, our victim mentality – this can generate frustration and eventually anger and on occassion action to right a perceived wrong, if we don’t let it go or educate ourselves. Those that practise deviseness and manipulation of the population have been wildly successful, since conspiracy theories, race resentment, Islamophobia, misogyny and other base bigotry, sorry emotions have a significant visceral appeal to ingrained beliefs amongst, those suseptible.

Please everyone, our actions express our priorities … please think before you act.

Solitude – 18 days in the forest

I am writing this is Cyprus, detached by time and distance from the original experience in Australia.

It has taken me many years to achieve this, a very limited perspective about what happened in this experience.

The originator was a frustrating experience which I had allowed to happen where I had given others my love and trust and these were betrayed, instead their misguided ideology that valued no one but themselves, their beliefs, assumptions, projection and fears were the end of us … this experience created a need in me for real solitude .. I had reached a point where all the old ways no longer made sense, I kept hitting a wall – people’s promises and words did not match their actions … I needed to find what was real as mindfulness and meditation although helping weren’t bringing clarity.

I was in a sea of pain, my internal compass was spinning and I had no idea what to do … I was unable to understand the thinking, the beliefs and values of those who had professed their love, then had created this challenge, all emanating from a group that allegedly lived by Buddhist teachings – a truism being that the basis of all relationships is trust.

I was deep in despair then finally I decided to isolate myself purposefully from all distractions, to try and understand why this challenge had come to me … what was it in me that I had to understand, to face and overcome, I wondered what was I to learn from the experience?

The nurturing environment of nature beckoned, it had always been a wonderful energising and calming experience for me, I would go. …. I took some food, tent etc and went looking for a camp site in the state forest – my past experience in nature automatically kicked in, I set up camp, explored the area, boiled water for a drink, all the time feeling the balance and harmony, the nurturing energy of natured flowed into me, then I began to meditate.

Over the next 18 days, I travelled through transitions – the first four days, was a most unsettling, and confronting experience … illusions came and went … even in a conscious state I found difficulty in understanding the actions of others … my ego screamed out in defiance of my mindfulness but I did not engage and after a while its voice diminished until I eventually found the no mind state … for days I was in a place of wonder … peak experiences came …. some have been repeated since, it was an incredible humbling learning experience where I could see the balance and interconnectivity of life in nature all around me, from the plants, the insects, the birds the animals and myself – we were one.

During my time in the forest I heard another voice, which I now know is my soul, it asked me did I want to go on? I asked what would happen if I didn’t, the voice said “we will then stop here, but if you go through you can never go back, you are on a new path” … I said let’s go, and here I am.

I have never regretted this decision.

In the forest, after a while I become one with the environment, the forest and all the life it contained … I couldn’t separate myself I couldn’t judge the actions of others for this reason – this extended to my recent challenge … I couldn’t judge, all I could do was to try and empathise in an effort to understand their actions and what beliefs had brought the situation to me – there was nothing in me that enabled me to understand the motivations of the others in this experience, all I could was to accept the situation, forgive those that had betrayed me, let go and move on.

I finally understood the Alan Watts quote: “If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you’ll come to understand that you’re connected with everything”

Any action, good or bad that comes with intent, brings Karma … I knew that Karma would handle the situation with those in my past far better than I could so I let it go and moved on.

As always this was my experience, it may have some similarities with your own or not. There is no right way for everyone’s journey is their own

Along with a new perspective on the present moment, . Peace, Love, understanding and presence came and have stayed.

A significant life challenge; What happens to our thinking

This is an old repost from another of my blogs … I thought it may be of some help.

We go through life, one foot in front of the other, focusing on the next goal, the next thing, always the next thing …. then … life happens.

In my case a relationship, love – the use of silence and dogma as a weapon to whose only purpose was to hurt and exclude – this came from a group projection.

I had allowed myself to love the idea of someone and of a belief in the future to help others, the reality was something else indeed … it was about all the most base of human fears, about control, about an ideology … for when the survival of a ideology becomes more important that the people within it, the ideology will always fail …. in this case my insight was that the ideology was false …. the most monumental challenge of my life was about to begin – I knew had to face it head on.

How we deal with life challenges such as grief or loss will also tend to follow a process – I know the more widely accepted model is the Kubler-Ross model, but I felt this was was more applicable to my own emotional or spiritual challenge

Stage One – SHOCK & DENIAL
We may react to learning of the Challenge with numbed, uncomprehending disbelief. You may deny, frantically try to rationalize the reality of the loss in order to avoid the pain. The shock is normal, experience it, as it provides the emotional protection from being overwhelmed all at once. This may last for weeks or longer,

Stage Two – PAIN & GUILT
As the shock wears off, it is replaced with the suffering of profound pain – this is normal, please try to experience the pain fully, and not hide from it, at this point is is incredibly important not to escape from it with alcohol or drugs.
Life feels chaotic, uncertain and scary at this point ..

Stage 3 – ANGER & BARGAINING
Frustration increases and may give way to anger, be aware that you may project this anger and anxiety onto family, friends or medical professionals – be aware and try to control this, as permanent damage to your relationships may result. This is a time to look outwards and find ways to release the bottled up emotion.
You may shout at the rain, Why Me ? You may also try to bargain in vain with the powers that be for a way out of your despair (“I will never …. If… )

Stage 4 – “DEPRESSION”, REFLECTION, LONELINESS
A relatively long period of reflection may overtake you. This is a normal stage – flow with this, do not be “talked out of it” by well-meaning friends or family. Encouragement from others does not penetrate and serves no function but to increase the self doubt. For during this time, you finally comprehend the true magnitude of your loss, and it depression deepens, you may isolate yourself on purpose, reflect on things you did with your lost one, and focus on memories – this may be exacerbated by feelings of emptiness, despair and frustration and self doubt.
…
Stage 5 – THE UPWARD TURN-
As the reality of starting life without, your life becomes a little calmer and more organized. Your physical symptoms lessen, and your “depression” the feeling that your head feels like a sponge with no ability to think begins to lift.

Stage 6 – RECONSTRUCTION & WORKING THROUGH-
As you become more functional, your mind starts working again, and you will find yourself looking for realistic solutions to the life challenge posed by life without your loved one. You start to work on practical ways of reconstructing yourself and your life.

Stage 7 – ACCEPTANCE & HOPE
During this, the last of the seven stages in this grief model, we learn to accept and deal with the reality of our situation. Acceptance doesn’t necessarily bring instant happiness.

Given the challenged face and the pain and turmoil you have experienced, you can never return to the carefree, untroubled YOU that existed before this tragedy. But you will find a way forward.

You will start to look forward and actually plan things for the future. Eventually, you will be able to think about your lost loved one without pain; sadness, yes, but the wrenching pain will be gone. You will once again anticipate some good times to come, and yes, even find joy again in the experience of living

I spend a considerable time in nature … with the nurturing energies that help change my life … over time it brought new levels of consciousness and with that a new perspective on the ordinary and the journey itself.

I have also gone deeply into mindful meditation and movement therapy such as Thai Chi and Chi Gong (Qigong) … it was the initial reason why I give to others by teaching mindful meditation and movement therapies like Qigong and Tai Chi. online and in person https://mindfulunion.wordpress.com

During mindful meditation I arrived at the point where we exist day to day in a continuous meditative state – along with the controlling our thoughts … and being more in a feeling state than a thinking state .. life becomes creative and peaceful, love and understanding pervade your every waking moment.

I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and that light is me.

Enlightenment and the journey beyond.

You may, or there may others with a yearning to seek what is not in the physical world – to understand the path to consciousness, enlightenment and beyond – perhaps this is old news for you or others, but this is an attempt to empower and bring awareness to some of the transcendental path that awaits us all, once we enter the portal of enlightenment, our birth if you will.

In case there is any who have this desire to evolve, who’s destiny is in this life to attain enlightenment or to make progress, I would suggest a book you may not yet have seen …the book was given to me by my teacher on my first visit to India – it was written by Robert S. de Ropp, and is called The Master Game, Pathways to Higher consciousness (1968), it is available on Amazon.

Background for the author– from Wikipedia

There are infinite paths to enlightenment, it matters not if you are religious, or not … life alone and the severe life challenges that it can bring to some can take you there, for it is open to all … all paths can lead us to this point, for there is no right way, there is no wrong way … but once we agree and go through this portal, we are still on a journey, for it is not an ending, but a new beginning – now the path for all becomes one – from enlightenment and the levels within it, there is a path to higher consciousness which has plateaus, dead ends, challenges to be overcome, incredible transcendental experiences personal to you (one has to be careful here lest we become lost in this ambrosia, this personal illusory nirvana) and then we are unable to return to the physical world, this will also stop our spiritual evolution) … from enlightenment onwards we truly need a teacher.

Part of enlightenment (in my case anyway) is consciousness, for different levels of consciousness (energy and vibrations) make up the Universe, from those of us who are asleep and exist solely in the material world, to those who do the best they can by living with intent within the material world, will at their time, transition to consciousness … when conscious we feel every life form, from the smallest ant to the largest, within us … like the ripples on a pond we can at will feel life, all life, we are no longer separate from it … at this point, judgement of others became impossible, because one cannot judge … because that involves separation from the other, which it not possible for we are all one … all we can try to do is empathise to understand, then let go and move on.

I write for one reason that if you or another of your family has a yearning or is ready, or may at some point be ready, just imagine once taught, how he or she can guide and lift the consciousness level of your children and perhaps your entire family … all children are born enlightened … the dogma of whatever environment they are within builds walls between who they are (their essence) and the environmental acceptable version of themselves, there are no exceptions to this, we are all destined to evolve in our own time, perhaps one amongst you is at that point, or maybe, they or you will know, for me this came via a yearning in my chest.

As I mentioned, once you have gone through the enlightened portal … a new journey begins .. A journey where we need a Teacher … because the path is narrow and can be fraught with mis-direction and dead ends and more mind created illusions … all courtesy of our personality if you will, the ego mind .. Part of this journey is freeing your self from the control of the ego mind, freeing yourself from fear and from the past, .. How this happens – Remember the old adage, when the student is ready a teacher will appear, it is true, for that is why I am in India.

Remember, the past is only to learn from … rarely if ever to be re-visited … if you find you are … as your own witness at this point, don’t engage with the mind when it brings it back in whatever form… the more you don’t engage with the fears, demons and illusions, the more you will begin to control your own mind and be free of the ego (some ego is necessary to operate in the material world, but under the control of your essence, our true self, not a law unto itself) – your essence (the book may help the person in question here) will become dominate … it will mean, your authentic self will become the master of your life … let go the past, for you are no longer the person you were at some time in the past, we all change and evolve, yet the ego mind seeks to control us, essentially through fear, its weapons also include addictions (in its many forms), dependancies, depression, shame, guilt etc ..it is the greatest creator of illusions.

God or if you prefer the Divine Creator and your own soul knows the challenges you have all witnessed and been part of … you are loved relentlessly and forever … judgement free … the physical world is about learning, for it is only through pain and the learning that comes from it, does our soul evolve …. We evolve in our case by living in earth school, as humanity as a whole evolves slowly to a higher consciousness.

Don’t be concerned if there is no empathy with these worlds, or any yearning by you or others to spiritually evolve, as a member of the human race we will all awaken, in this life or in another.

David Sanders
Dehradun, India

Self healing!

From time to time, we have thoughts that take us away from being mindful, away from the present moment. such thoughts could be sad, they could be reflections on a past loss, reflection of why’s, on the motives behind events in our lives, a myriad of thoughts including fears of “what if this happens” – most, if not all are inconsequential to the present moment.

Now I know that it is part of life, to be uncertain of what may come, for it makes us aware of all possibilities prior to acting, but when these thoughts are just fears or they severely influence us, they have the effect of closing us down, that along with past concerns can turn us inwards towards a victim mentality, for me this new way of looking at my thoughts came from a desire that these thoughts were not empowering me, hence I needed to understand more and find a way to heal myself.

I tried this quite a while ago, it did work for me …

Each time I receive a thought that takes me to an event in the past that for instance once made me depressed or upset, or others about the future, which naturally come from an uncertainty or a fear I would thank the thought. I know may appear counter-intuitive to thank what appears to be a thought that is based on say a fear, a response from your ego, but stay with me on this.

When the thought arrives, say about a past relationship, I said to myself ..

• Thank you. I know you love me and you want to help, and in generating this, you think you are!
• But Thanks, but I am totally fine, I have this, I have learnt from the past, (or I have no fear of the future), I want to go back to the present and what is real, where I can choose to create my life.
• Again, thanks for your help, I love you, please go when you wish.

Or variations on this “conversation” over time, bring a lightness, openness and optimism to your inner chatter, and what we create within is reflected in our outer behaviours, our confidence and strength.

For me, the positive effect was that these non-present thoughts came less and less … this strategy has the real benefit by taking one out of the victims mentality, your thoughts become empowering and positive … you break through boundaries .. you heal.

If you wish to, try it … if I can help, let me know!

Guidance for Transitions

Morality is how we relate to the people we know, our family, our friends, our neighbours … ethics on the other hand is the true foundation of how we create a society … when someone projects their subjective personal beliefs on to a society, especially about something they know little or nothing about, it is about their ego, to make them selves feel superior, essentially it is self-aggrandisement … in doing so little by little we destroy society itself .. for the whole act of blame is about separation … about separating one person from another – for we must remember that condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.

True love does not judge, nor does it have any expectations, it does not to say to someone, become this person and I will love you … or the corollary, if you change from this person; I won’t love you – but that is more of a Cathexis, an expression of surface or perhaps only conditional love.

How do we find a conscious love without distortions in it? Through knowledge and acceptance of self, and solitude … meditation. Without these, love gets mutated and distorted by the surface of life. If there is knowledge, acceptance and meditation, love evolves into devotion; it remains pure and then evolves into bliss, joy.

Disrespecting someone, judgement and ascribing fault, is used by the ego to separate us, like control, judgement, anger, competing, worry, guilt, conformity are all other non-present emotional ‘ego’ driven thoughts – like all fears when faced show their illusion and in doing so we find ourselves and our strengths.

Everyone has their gifts, everyone, and each one is equally valid gift from the Universe.

Everything that happens is essentially without expression, it is only in our beliefs where we ascribe a meaning, a duality to it, a right or wrong, good or bad etc., when beliefs become primary, it manifests through its own brand of particularism into a cult, there are cults everywhere from the private to even Public companies say Apple Inc and Tesla … all within are true believers, their lives are defined through the duality of their ideology, for instance Capitalism is the quintessential expression of duality (I.e profit / loss is good/bad) – within families, all experiences seems are seen as either good or bad, right or wrong, family or not – under pressure, this evolves into a fear based “them and us mentality” a dismissal and disrespect for all that appears on the surface to be different.

There are really good and wonderful people in the world, the thing that separates us is awareness that they exist and our beliefs – but no one has the right to define themselves as right and others wrong … for the majority of humanity, it is easier to judge than to think and we do – To judge is to label & negate others and so dismiss (often without revisiting that first judgement) – true humanity and strengths is to feel with empathy, compassion and equanimity.

I cannot ascribe fault anymore for it leads to separation, in the higher self there are no certainties, things can only be viewed through probabilities … for instance it is highly probable that the sun will rise tomorrow – the reality is that nothing is certain, change is continuous and everything ends, well not so much ends, for we are always in transition to ?

Happiness comes only in true Freedom, it comes from within, not from people things or circumstances – follow your personal bliss, challenges that will come are how we grow and we use them to break through the shells that encompass our understanding.

We see everything through the present moment, the past, is our personal perspective of our experiences (filtered through our beliefs and values) … The future is our expectations, our wishes … but this present moment is our only personal reality … these are the Buddha’s words, along with many spiritual leaders (including Dalai Lama, Lao Tzu, Bodhidharma, Eckhart Tolle, Marcus Aurelius and others)

“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help” – Thích Nhất Hanh

With union with the light, a spiritual realisation occurs – then it is the individual’s choice to integrate with the Higher self or not – for me it was easy … once you decide to integrate, The Grace of “God, the Universe, Brahmin, the Source – the higher self (call her what you will) starts to descend to us (over time) you gradually detach from the physical world, much of what you once valued in duality seems empty and an illusion because it is, your love becomes abundant, unconditional and conscious, you can feel life, every form of life within you from the greatest to the least – there is now only one choice, which is to love, to understand, to have compassion for all life, whatever its form.

Here is a book, the Zen Teachings of Bodhidharma that helped me understand my personal journey to the light – perhaps it might help others on their journey!

A difficult revelation of conditional “love” is the judgement, perhaps dis-respect , contempt or worse. Perhaps no one at home wrote in a simple act of compassion or empathy to think beyond themselves and their attachments and ask how you were … for me, I guess that is the true expression of the experience – their own brand of particularism.

It’s a given, that no one has the right in being purposefully cruel for any reason.

If you have many obstacles in your path … consider, perhaps the Universe is trying to tell you something –

“As a man himself sows, so he himself reaps; no man inherits the good or evil act of another man. The fruit is of the same quality as the action” – Mahabharata, xii.291.22

We are all accountable for our choices, as I have learnt personally – do not blame those you who hurt you, for they are only instruments of Karma – Karma holds us all accountable for our behaviour in particular our actions towards others – how she will choose to balance the scales for their actions towards you and other life forms, is not for others to speculate how.

I can feel only love and compassion for you all, if any truly wish non-judgmental spiritual help, then come find me … and we will work towards the light together, if you’re not up for that, no problem, find another, for when it is your turn you will journey to the light in this life or another, it is a journey we will all make. By staying attached to the illusions of this world, once can never be truly happy, because in being attached we are never truly free – and true happiness comes in freedom.

After a four-year journey I am done – I am on to other things enriched, you are each on your own, except of course for the infinite love and power of the Universe that is within each of you, but I am going to project my beliefs and say – your perception was that I was the problem however I believe I was a solution – fear itself is the problem.

I am thinking of you all as I write these words … face your fears … they are paper tigers … empty illusions. Judgment and blame separates us … the desire to control others comes from ego and fear – controlling others controls you – instead stay present, be mindful and accept and flow … there is no way around pain or fear, the only way out is through.

Open your heart to those in need, do not make assumptions. You are not a judge, you are a coach, and in the future you may just be the guide that makes all the difference to someone else’s life.

There are only two main motivators in life, love and fear. Choose wisely!

October, 2015

The Spiritual Path

I only relate this journey, this transition to my personal experience, I hope that helps!

Spiritual growth is a desire to seek, and in so doing so to challenge the relevance of and often break down these layers within us, that living in your society (our environment, beliefs and expectations) has created, these old beliefs may block or inhibit the flow and awareness of our true self, however spiritual growth is not something to be achieved, it will progress at its own pace, depending on our openness and awareness, but please lose any belief that this process is something ( a mantle) to be achieved or attained to gain the respect of others, this we do only for ourselves.

I believe that all of us, every soul that comes to earth school is born enlightened, however as soon as the child ceases to be treated as a child and is brought into the world of choices, layers of dogma and beliefs are added between their birth innocence and wonder and that which comes by living in the world itself – this comes from I believe the family beliefs and from “Duality” the concept that brings such labels as good versus bad, right versus wrong, Light and dark, Pain and pleasure, me and you, the illusion of separateness and defining, well labeling every experience, everything in fact – and behind every label there is a meaning ascribed to it, by society. Whilst this concept works and is essential when one lives only in the material world, it can be difficult to transition to Unity consciousness, because one has to transcend the world of duality whilst still understanding and often living within it.

Whatever your life contains is your path, for each of us it is unique, and so there are innumerable paths to liberation, but for mankind, spiritually at least, it is the journey from Duality to Unity consciousness, where all that exists is love and that which springs from it, such concepts as patience, understanding, empathy and compassion. I am not a fan of judgement (even of myself) for it is the instrument of our duality, and too often it comes from our ego, our beliefs, our prejudices and fears.

Discipline, openness and humbleness I have found are important, and again I would stress that there is no “right” way, no dogma to growth and evolution – but challenging what you have in the past accepted is. Feel for your path and follow. Remember, no one is perfect nor should we aim to be for we will always fail, but we can strive to be better than we were yesterday, and perhaps help others when the occasion presents itself.

Beliefs and Meditation

A discussion on Twitter the other day brought a new question, a perspective, about “what do I have to believe to meditate”.

I would say that many people who meditate and find a measure of calming the mind and the minimalisation of fears and non-present thoughts do it from a purely cognitive view point, in other words it is a process without any beliefs other than a measure of faith in the process itself.

On the surface, to achieve some benefit from meditation, I don’t feel that there has to be a connection with any belief, religion or philosphy, as initially Meditation is a way to achieve a measure of life balance between the material and spiritual aspects of our lives.

When we are ready to meditate deeply we do, for if you wish to seek, are curious and want to achieve a different perspective on life through meditation it will need to take on a changed aspect in your life.

If I relate this transition to my personal experience which is really all I can do, then the process of meditation becomes a path and a way of looking at life, this perspective has always been within us. When you are further down your spiritual path, we need solitude as much if not more than meditation, because we then live life in a state of meditation, that way our life becomes an way of living, in a state of the attributes of meditation, for Meditation is not what we do each day, that’s practise, Meditation is the daily result of that practice, of how we live our lives.